Thursday, October 3, 2013

BuRP '13

BuRP this year was a blast, as has come to be expected every year. I actually arrived a day later than I had originally planned. I had a one night layover in Atlanta to visit with an old friend and catch a Matthew Sweet show. Here is a reader's digest of a trip I could easily spread over several posts.
I took 78 out of Birmingham, you always see the good stuff on the back roads. This trip was no exception. There was a random city park in Talapoosa, GA that was covered in old helicopters, tanks and planes. It held my attention walking around for about an hour. 
I stopped in Temple, GA for a $5.99 bbq plate. Jones offered a cool break, hot food and friendly service. I got full and back on the road in under half an hour. 
Right outside Atlanta, I followed my plans to avoid the density of the city by bypassing it on the interstate. It worked well and I arrived half an hour ahead of schedule. I met up with my friend and we proceeded to get fed and to the show. My first time at a Taco Mac, I was blown away by the beer selection. The food was great too. 
Old school GPS.
Blurry shot of Matthew Sweet performing his breakthrough album Girlfriend in its entirety. We had excellent seats, also got to see the Wailers and Soul Asylum. After the show I made quick with the bedtime. I left the next day before the sun was even in the sky. Much to my surprise, Atlanta has gridlock and traffic jams even at 6am.
I planned ahead a bit and told the group in NC my intentions to arrive in Maggie Valley early. I arrived at 9am, unpacked and we let out for Deal's Gap. We also rode Foothills Parkway and part of the Blue Ridge Parkway before calling it a day.
The next morning we made a b-line for Ashville and some roads on the map that looked promising and truly paid off. We had to do about 5 miles of muddy loose gravel to get to it but I would do it again for these roads, easily. Little Switzerland was slightly disappointing and the connecting pathways claim the worst tar snakes I have ever seen or ridden on.
 Did more time on the Parkway, what an amazing stretch of road.
12 years of knowing each other and you'll have inside jokes for days...and there will always be new ones coming down the pipe (pun intended).
 I left the next day around 10am in no rush, the wife and kids were out of town so I was returning to an empty house. This big bike was built on a show about the world's biggest whatevers. It sat in front of Wheels Through Time for a spell before ending up getting sold from dealership to dealership. I've seen it at several in the area.
It is hard for me not to take the Ocoee river road home. It is a great ride with hard to beat scenery. After being spoiled by sights like this, I finally reached the slab and powered home. Once I arrived I grabbed a shower, a bottle of rum, a six pack and a couple movies from the Redbox. I ate Chinese take out and fell asleep with the sound of one of the DVD's menus playing on loop until the morning came.

2 comments:

  1. JT-Once again you post an excellent post; a shinny gem in the motorcycle blog world!
    Adios!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Chris-thanks man, I am glad you dug it.
    Thanks to Instagram, good blogs are getting harder and harder to find.

    ReplyDelete

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